An extraordinarily well written account of the state of contemporary biology by a Nobel laureate (1974). De Duve gives a unified and coherent account of the biochemistry of life, genetics, evolution, mind and astrobiology. He believes that life and, possibly, intelligence, are natural consequences of the constitution of the universe. By his own estimation, there may be 10^17 foci of life in the universe (p 279).
The book is also an Apologia. He quotes the famous saying by Laplace, when he was questioned by Napoleon on the role of God in the universe: “Your Majesty: I have no need for that hypothesis”. However, having revealed his own lapse of faith, he does not adopt a hostile and truculent attitude towards religion. ( )

A broad-ranging view of biology. Most of the drearily inevitable religion-related comments are concentrated in the last chapter, for convenient skipping by the intelligent reader.